Uncurling guide for sewing machines



June 27, 1944.

H. HACKLANDER UNCURLING GUIDE FOR SEWING MACHINES Filed jAug. 5, 1942 Patented June 27, 1944 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE UNCURLING GUIDE FOR SEWING BEACHINES Application August 5, 1942, Serial No. 453,660

12 Claims.

In the manufacture of full-fashioned hosiery it is generally the practice to prepare a stocking blank for the seaming operation by folding the same along its longitudinal front center line until the opposite or the selvage edges are superimposed upon each other. The juxtaposed edges of both the heel and toe portions are then respectively stitched together. The remaining edges of the stocking blank are then seamed between the previously stitched toe and heel portions and along the back of the leg portion from the heel to the top thereof.

The type of hosiery which is now in vogue has the heel and toe as well as the top or garter portions reenforced with additional interwoven threads, and thus it occurs that these sections of the hose are of heavier gauge than the remaining sections. In the past, difficulty has been experienced in uncurling and guiding the edge portions of hosiery having a variable gauge. Wherever the fabric changes from a heavy to a thin gauge, in passing through an uncurler, the thin gauge portion thereof tends to drop out of the uncurler as the heavy portion of the fabric has spread the uncurling wings of the uncurling guide away from the central guiding plate so that they cannot engage the thin fabric sections and hold them against dropping below the needle path. Among those skilled in the hosiery seaming art the above described defect is referred to as a.drop-out. Whenever the material thus drops below its normal level the needle will either miss the edge of the work or it will penetrate the work at a point so close to the edge that a weak seam will result.

The hosiery seaming operators are constantly on guard to prevent such drop-outs and whenever one occurs they move to correct the situation by raising th free or unseamed portion of the blank. However, many times the operator can not act soon enough and a weak seam results as a section of the superimposed selvage 4 edges has not been brought to a suflicient elevation so that the needle may penetrate the material at a substantial distance from the edges thereof.

Another difficulty in the hosiery seaming operation is encountered, which also causes dropouts. Many times when the operator attempts to scam along the back of the leg of a hose blank, from the seamed heel to the top portion,

she discovers that one selvage edge is longer than the other, and consequently the top portions do 7 not match. To correct this shortcoming the operator, who normally holds the unseamed portions of the blank in her right hand and exerts a slight upward ull thereon during the seaming operation, permits the longer of the two selvage edges to enter the uncurler in an untensioned condition while at the same time she may exert a slightly greater pull on the shorter selvage edge, thereby to match the lengths thereof. While the longer selvage edge is in this untensioned condition, it naturally tends to sag and thus enter the uncurler at a lower elevation. Therefore, if the uncurling wings are spread further apart, as by an uneven portion of the fabric passing through the uncurler, the longer and untensioned selvage edge of the blank will drop-out.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an extremely simple and inexpensive uncurling guide which will exert a constant control over the fabric edges so that they can not drop below the required elevation during the seaming operation.

With these and other objects in View, as will hereinafter appear, the invention comprises the devices, combinations and arrangements of parts described in connection with the accompanying drawing, which illustrates a preferred embodiment of the invention and in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of one form of the device with one of the uncurling wings removed.

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of that device shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a bottom plan View of the device shown in Fig. 2 and having the uncurling wings open to a slight extent.

Fig. 4. is a disassembled perspective view of the main elements of the device shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a portion of the device shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 6 is a side elevation of a portion of a second form of the present invention.

Fig. 7 is a disassembled perspective view of a portion of the main elements of the device shown in Fig. 6.

Fig. 8 is a front elevation of a portion of that device shown in Fig. 6.

Fig. 9 is a bottom plan view of the device shown in Fig. 8 and having the fabric-supporting wings slightly open.

Fig. 10 is a horizontal section view of the device taken substantially along line IO-Ifl of Fig. 8 and illustrating the device in operation.

Fig. 11 is a fragmentary View of a seamed leg portion of a stocking showing the result of a drop-out.

Referring more specifically to the drawing, one form of the improved uncurling and guiding device comprises a central shank portion II terminating in a fabric-guiding plate I2. Secured to and disposed transversely of the shank II are two cross-bars I3 and I4 which are provided. respectively, with two threaded apertures I5 and two plain apertures I6 adapted to receive the threaded pins II. Cooperating with the shank II are two presser-members I8 pivotally carried thereby by means of the pins I'I passing through apertures I9 provided in said members. These presser-members I8 terminate in uncurling Wings 23 which are urged toward the guide-plate I2 by means of a coil-spring 2|. This spring 2I passes through the aperture 22 provided in the shank I I to bear against the recessed bosses 23 of the presser-members I8. Mounted within and transversely of the guide-plate I2 is a gaugepin 24 which extends from each face thereof to be received within each of the apertures 25 provided in the presser-members I8. Each uncurling wing 20 is formed with the usual fabric-supporting toe 26 located upon the entrance end thereof and an uncurling hump 26a. The toes 26 are adapted to engage and support the rolled edges of the fabric.

Shown in Fig. 5 is a spring metal shoe 21 comprising a relatively thin strip of resilient fiatstock which has been folded back upon itself in its longitudinal direction. As may be best seen in Fig. 3 this shoe 2? has been slipped over the fabric-guiding plate I2 and the folded portion thereof is suitably secured to the trailing vertical edge 28 of the plate I2 as by soldering. The free ends of the shoe 2? diverge outwardly from the respective faces of the guiding plate I2 to bear against the respective inner faces of the uncurling wings 23.

The purpose of the above noted shoe 2! is to prevent the edges of a fabric from dropping whenever a thicker portion of the fabric passes through the uncurler, or to prevent one of the two fabric edge portions from dropping whenever it is permitted to become slack as it enters the uncurler, as hereinabove described.

Fig. 3 illustrates the relative positions of the component parts of the uncurler when the uncurling wings 2B are forced to diverge from the guiding plate I2. It is to be seen that the free ends of the shoe 2'! constantly bear against the inner faces of the respective wings 23, thereby to grip the fabric edges therebetween in order to prevent them from dropping.

Figs. 6 to 9, inclusive, illustrate a modification of the present invention as applied to a so-called reverse or inside Out type of uncurler. This type of uncurler is adapted to operate upon the curled edges of the fabric sections which are placed facing each other. The uncurler, therefore, unrolls or uncurls the edges outwardly, whereby the edge portions may be placed flat against each other for the seaming operation.

This reverse uncurling device comprises a central shank portion II terminating in a central uncurling plate 29 provided with fabric supporting toes 30 and the uncurling hump 30a. Presser-members I8 are secured to the shank II of the reverse uncurler in the same manner as are those of the uncurler hereinabove described.

These presser-members I8 terminate in fabricguiding shoes 3| which are urged toward the central uncurling plate 29 in a manner similar to the uncurling wings 20 of the previously described unourler. Mounted within and transversely of the central plate 29 is a gauge-pin 24 which extends from each face thereof to be received within each of the apertures 25 provided in the presser-members I8.

An end portion of a relatively short length of spring wire 32 is imbedded and secured in the inner face of each of the two opposing presser plates 3|. The wires 32 are imbedded in each fac at a point 33 adjacent the trailing edge 34 thereof and substantially midway between the bottom portion of the gauge-pin 24 and the bottom edge of the central plate. E'ach wire 32 is disposed substantially parallel to the bottom edge of the uncurling plate and the forward endportion thereof is bent at right angles to its remaining portion to freely enter an aperture 35 provided in the nose of each guiding plate 3|. A groove 36 is provided in each guiding plat 3| and it extends from the wire-receiving aperture 35 to the point 33 where the wire is fixed to said member. Therefore, each guiding member 3| may be held directly against a respective face of the uncurling member 29 and the wires 32 do not obstruct the closing of sai members. However, the wires 32 are so fixed to their respective guiding plates 3! that the forward portions thereof spring inwardly to bear against the respective faces of the uncurling plate 29 whenever the guiding plates are opened, as illustrated in Figs. 8 and 9.

Fig. 10 illustrates the reverse uncurler in operation and as guiding the selvage edge-portions 31 and 38 of a fabric to the feed-cups 39 of a hosiery seaming machine. Fig. 10 shows the selvage edge 31 in a tensioned condition and the opposed selvage edge 38 in a slack or untensioned condition for the purpose of matching the top portions 40 of the hose blank, as hereinbefore described. As illustrated, one of the wires 32 forces the slack selvage edge 38 toward the uncurling plate 29, thereby to prevent this selvage edge from dropping as it otherwise would whenever the guiding plates 3| are opened to the degree shown in Fig. 10. The edge portions of the fabric are pinched between the wires 32 and the uncurling plate 29 at all times, and therefore, whenever the guiding plates 3I are spread open beyond their normal position by a thick portion of the fabric, the thin fabric portions will not drop out of the uncurler but will be sustained in their proper level by the wires 3 I.

Fig. 11 illustrates the two selvage edges 31 and 38 as they appear after being seamed as at H. The open portion 42 is caused by the so-called drop-out which occurs whenever an edge portion of a hose blank i permitted to drop below its proper elevation, thereby to escape the needle.

Having thus set forth the nature of the invention, what I claim herein is:

1. A fabric uncurling and guiding device for sewing machines, comprising, a central plate, presser-members pivotally supported by and spring biased toward the opposite sides of said central plate, a pair of toed elements for supporting the edge portions of the fabric, and resilient means interposed between said central plate and each presser-member for engaging and urging an edge portion of said fabric toward a respective one of said toed elements.

' 2. A fabric uncurling and guiding device for sewing machines, comprising, a central [913,138, a pair of presser-members pivotally supported by and spring biased toward the opposite sides of said plate, a gauge pin carried by and disposed transversely of said central plate for contacting and guaging the height of the fabric edges, a pair of elements for supporting the curled edge portions of the fabric, and resilient means interposed between said central plate and each presser-member for engaging and urging an edge portion of said fabric towards a respective one of said supporting elements.

3. A fabric unourling and guiding device for sewing machines, comprising, a central plate, a pair of elements for supporting and uncurling the edge portions of a fabric, said elements being disposed upon opposite sides of said central plate, and a pair of resilient members carried independently of said elements, each resilient member being disposed adjacent to a respective side face of said central plate so that it may be relatively spring biased towards a respective one of said elements in order to yieldingly engage the opposite faces of an edge of the fabric therebetween for supporting the same. I

4. A fabric uncurling and guiding device fo sewing machines, comprising, a central guiding plate, a pair of uncurling members each being pivotally supported by and spring biased toward a respective opposite side of said guiding plate, a gauge pin associated with said guiding plate for contacting and gauging the height of a fabric, and resilient means interposed between said central guiding plate and each uncurling member for engaging an edge portion of a fabric and urging the same toward said uncurling member.

5. A fabric uncurling and guiding device for sewing machines, comprising, a central guiding plate, a pair of presser-members pivotally supported by and spring biased toward the opposite sides of said central guiding plate, a fabric uncurling element carried by each of said presser- 1 members, fiat resilient members secured to the trailing edge of and being each normally disposed in substantially parallel relation with a respective side of said central guiding plate, each flat resilient member having a portion thereof spring biased toward a respective one of said presser-members, and a gauge pin carried by and disposed transversely of said central guiding plate.

6. A fabric uncurling and guiding device for.

sewing machines, comprising, a central plate, fabric uncurling means formed upon said central plate, a guiding presser plate disposed opposite each side of said central plate for engaging a fabric edge and urging the same toward said central plate, and a resilient fabric-engaging member carried by each of said guiding presser plates so as to be disposed between its respective presser plate and said central plate.

7. A fabric uncurling and guiding device for sewing machines, comprising, a central plate, a guiding presser plate disposed opposite each side of said central plate for engaging a fabric edge and urging the same toward said central plate, and a fabric-engaging member mounted upon each guiding presser plate and spring biased away from the guiding plate and toward said central plate.

8. A fabric uncurling and guiding device for sewing machines, comprising a central plate, a guiding plate disposed opposite and spring biased toward each side of said central plate for engaging a fabric edge and urging the same toward said central plate, and an auxiliary fabric-engaging member carried by a respective guiding plate and spring biased toward said central plate, each fabric-engaging member being arranged so as to be shiftable into and out of a coplanar relationship with one surface of a respective guiding plate.

9. A fabric uncurling and guiding device for sewing machines, comprising, a central plate, a guiding plate disposed opposite each side of and spring biased toward said central plate for engaging a fabric edge and urging the same toward said central plate, each guiding plate being provided with a groove, and a fabric-engaging member being carried within each groove and being spring biased towards said central plate.

10. A fabric uncurling and guiding device for sewing machines, comprising, a central plate, a fabric uncurling means formed upon said central plate, a guiding plate disposed opposite to each side of said central plate for engaging a fabric edge and urging the same toward said central plate, and an auxiliary fabric-engaging member carried by a respective guiding plate and being spring biased toward said central plate, each fabric-engaging member being arranged so as to be shiftable into and out of a coplanar relationship with one surface'of a respective guiding plate.

11. A fabric uncurling and guiding device for sewing machines, comprising, a central plate, fabric supporting and uncurling means formed upon said central plate, a guiding plate pivotally supported by and spring biased toward each of the opposite sides of said central plate, each guiding plate being provided with a groove, and a fabric-engaging member being carried within each groove and being spring biased toward said central plate.

12. A fabric uncurling and guiding device for sewing machines, comprising, a central plate, and a pair of fabric-engaging members disposed opposite each side of and spring pressed toward said central plate, the members of each pair of fabric-engaging members being shiftablerelative to each other and one member of each pair being retractable within the other HANS HACKLANDER. 

